Numerous dunnage packaging materials have been developed for providing protective and cushioned packing of articles within confining boxes or containers. One of the more commonly utilized dunnage packaging materials is the polystyrene "peanut" or bead. These foamed plastic packaging elements have been extensively utilized to provide protective cushioning of articles within outer containers to withstand the abuses encountered in transport. These plastic packaging elements, however, are undesirable due to handling and disposal difficulties. More specifically, the plastic packaging elements do not readily degrade so that disposal is a significant environmental problem.
Other known packaging materials which are commonly utilized include plastic bubble wrap, plastic foam sheets having embedded air cells, and padded paper packaging involving thick and layered fluff paper having air pockets therein. These latter packaging materials are all more limited in their usability, however, since they are generally created in sheet form and do not readily adapt to the shapes and contours of either the article or the container. Further, the plastic sheets also create an environmental disposal problem.
Shredded paper has also been used as a dunnage packaging material, although such material has met with dislike in many industries due tO the difficulties associated with handling of the material both during packaging and unpackaging, and the dust problem is created when using such material.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an improved free-flowing dunnage packaging material which is believed to improve upon and specifically overcome many of the disadvantages associated with known dunnage materials of the types discussed above.
More specifically, this invention relates to an improved free-flowing dunnage packaging material formed from individual dunnage elements which are individually constructed from small sheets of paper, such as small paper squares, with the sheets being preformed into a cup-like configurations so that such material, when used to fill a space or region between an article and a surrounding confinement, possesses sufficient strength to permit safe but cushioned support of the article, particularly during transport. This improved packaging material is particularly desirable with respect to ultimate disposal thereof since the paper readily degrades, and can be compacted or compressed into a small lightweight mass. This improved dunnage material can also be economically produced, can utilize recycled paper, and can be readily and conveniently handled without creating dust or other environmental problems, and is lightweight so as to not significantly increase overall shipping weight.
In the improved dunnage packaging material, as aforesaid, the paper cup-shaped dunnage element in one embodiment includes a generally flat base integrally and monolithically connected to a surrounding skirt which projects outwardly from one side of the base. This skirt is defined by a plurality of side panels which join to and extend around the base, with each side panel preferably being of a generally grooved or concaved horizontal cross section, with the edges of adjacent side panels being joined by convex rounded corner portions. The side panels preferably terminate in an outer pointed corner at an outer free end thereof so that the side panel is of greater length substantially along the center thereof than at the rounded edges. The resulting dunnage element hence possesses sufficient strength and durability, particularly when a large number of such elements are used to fill an open space or region between an article and a container, to provide protective yet cushioned support of the article. The skirt on the elements, and particularly the creation of the skirt by a plurality of deformed or concaved side panels, and the manner in which the elements randomly interfit and interlock when disposed within a container, provide the strength and durability necessary to support the article, but at the same time the randomly oriented collection of dunnage elements is able to provide resilient cushioning of the article due to the air spaces created by the skirts and resilient deformation of the skirts.
In the improved dunnage packaging material, as aforesaid, the individual elements are preferably initially formed from small paper squares so that the resulting skirt of the element is defined by four serially connected side panels, with each side panel being provided with a concave groove extending centrally through the longitudinal extent thereof and terminating at a corner as defined by one of the original corners of the paper square. The dunnage element, however, can also be defined by a paper sheet having three sides and corners, such as a sheet formed as a equilateral triangle, since the resulting dunnage element thus functions in generally the same manner except that the skirt is defined by three side panels, rather than four.
In the improved dunnage packaging material, as aforesaid, the paper cup-shaped dunnage element in a preferred embodiment includes a generally flat base integrally and monolithically connected to a surrounding skirt which projects outwardly from one side of the base. This skirt is defined by a plurality of side panels which join to and extend around the base. Each side panel includes an outer sidewall part which is circumferentially elongated and spirals outwardly partway around the base, and at its edge is folded inwardly to define an inner sidewall part which projects circumferentially reversely so as to partially overlap the outer sidewall part. This inner sidewall part terminates at a reverse fold line which joins to the edge of the outer sidewall part of the next adjacent side panel. The plurality of side panels extend circumferentially around the base and create a pinwheel-shaped cross section which, depending upon the tightness thereof, approaches a cylindrical configuration.
In the improved dunnage packaging material of the preferred embodiment, as aforesaid, the individual elements are preferably initially formed from small paper squares so that the resulting skirt of the element is defined by four serially connected side panels, and the resulting element when deformed into the pinwheel shape has the free outer edge of the skirt, at the open end thereof, defined by the edge of the paper square so that the free edge of the element has a sawtooth shaped configuration, and each side panel at the free edge thereof is pointed as defined by one of the corners of the paper square. This configuration of the dunnage element provides significant strength and durability in that each element traps or defines a significant open air space, and yet the element possesses sufficient strength as to enable resilient and cushioned support for objects packed within a collection of such elements, which elements are capable of being randomly oriented to provide the desired resilient cushioning of the object due to the resilient spaces created by the skirts and the resilient deformation of the skirts.
The present invention also relates to an improved process for making a dunnage packaging material, and specifically an apparatus for making a dunnage element of the type described above. In the process and apparatus, the paper square is positioned on an extruder which defines an interior channel, and a punch engages the paper square and forces it downwardly into the channel to form the sheet into the cup-shaped dunnage element.
The structure and function of the present invention, together with other objects and purposed thereof, will be apparent to persons familiar with dunnage packaging materials upon reading the following specification and inspecting the accompanying drawings.